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Campus Quotes
Cultural Events
Ask Andrew
Football
Is the military’s policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” still needed today?
UCO Chinese Student Association to host Chinese Night.
A.J. Black answers another round of burning questions.
A closer look at UCO’s standout running back, Josh Birmingham.
SEPT 30, 2010 uco360.com twitter.com/uco360
THE VISTA
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA’S student voice since 1903.
GUNMAN KILLS SELF, NO OTHERS “We haven’t had to use [Central Alert] for emergencies, but we have used it for weather emergencies, and that was a text message.”
P H OTO BY TA M IR K A L IFA
The University of Texas sent out mass e-mails and text messages alerting students that there was an “armed subject” on campus. Within hours of the suspect’s gunfire, the school issued an “all-clear notification,” but remained closed.
-Dr. Cynthia Rolfe, Vice President of the Office of Information Technology
By April Castro / Associated Press As bleary-eyed University of Texas students made their way to early classes and campus workers walked toward their jobs, one person strode through campus wearing a dark suit and a ski mask‚ and carrying an assault rifle. His look was menacing, and those who encountered him fled fast. “I saw in his eyes he didn’t care,” said construction worker Ruben Cordoba, who was installing a fence on the roof of a three-story building Tuesday morning when he looked down and made eye contact. Authorities say the gunman who later killed himself was 19-year-old
Colton Tooley, a sophomore math major. No one else was injured. But those who knew Tooley for years‚ before his time at the massive university in Austin‚ describe him as a courteous, intelligent guy who wouldn’t hurt anyone. He was book smart and won raves from his high school teachers. He also was known as someone who kept his emotions in check. “There was nothing prior to this day, nothing that would lead any of us to believe this could take place,” said a man who emerged from Tooley’s family home late Tuesday and identified himself only as Marcus, a relative. He read a statement saying that Tooley’s parents were dis-
Students Paige Raiczyk, front left, and Veronica Rivera, front right and other University of Texas students and faculty hold their phones for updated text messages inside Benedict Hall on campus in Austin early Tuesday morning Sept. 28, 2010 after a shooting on campus. A gunman opened fire Tuesday inside a University of Texas campus library then fatally shot himself, and police are searching for a possible second suspect, university police said. P H OTO BY TA M IR K A L IFA
Police prepare to enter Calhoun Hall at the University of Texas at Austin campus in Austin, Texas on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010. A gunman opened fire Tuesday inside the Perry-Castaneda Library, then fatally shot himself, and police are searching for a possible second suspect, university police said.
WEATHER TODAY
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traught. “They’ve lost their child.” As the gunman trekked along a campus street with an AK-47, he fired three shots toward a church, then fired three more times in the air, Cordoba said. Police said that with help from students they were able to track the shooter’s movements and chase him off the street. He went into the Perry-Castaneda Library, where he shot himself to death, said campus police Chief Robert Dahlstrom said. Dahlstrom said it wasn’t clear that the gunman was shooting at anyone in particular outside the library. The shots may have been fired into the air or missed shots, if he was aiming at someone, the chief said. University of Texas president Bill Powers canceled classes Tuesday and said normal campus operations would resume Wednesday. Police declined to speculate on a motive.
Marcus, the relative who said the family wasn’t planning to make any further comments, said he wanted the public to understand Tooley. “He was a very smart guy, very intelligent, excellent student. He wouldn’t or couldn’t hurt a fly. If he was depressed you would never know it. He never usually expressed emotion. This is a great shock to me and my family,” he said. Tooley’s parents did not immediately respond to messages left by The Associated Press. Investigators combed through the family’s home in Austin on Tuesday, carrying out bags and boxes. There was no word on exactly what was in the containers. A neighbor said police arrived about three hours after the shooting. The gunman’s threatening demeanor on campus was far from what Tooley’s teachers at Crockett High School in Austin recalled of
More weather at www.uco360.com
DID YOU KNOW? The average person has about 1,460 dreams a year. That is about four per night.
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Bullying
PLAYGROUND NOT SO FUN FOR SOME By Jack Chancey / Staff Writer
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the boy who graduated in 2009, ranked seventh in his class. They remembered him as “brilliant,” ‘’meticulous” and “respectful,” the principal, Craig Shapiro, said a statement. “All of us in the Crockett High School community are shocked and saddened by today’s tragedy at the University of Texas,” Shapiro said. “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Colton Tooley.” At the University of Texas, Tooley was a math major with an interest in actuarial science. The armed walk went through the heart of the UT-Austin campus, where one of the nation’s worst mass shootings took place from atop the clock tower in 1966, when Charles Whitman shot and killed 16 people
Everyone has their own experiences from their days in primary school. Whether it is the fear of the first day of high school, wall ball at recess, or that epic food fight in sixth grade, everyone comes out of school with at least one memory that will stick with them forever. However, the Smalley family of Perkins, Okla., are forced to live with the memory of their son not making it out of school due to an entirely preventable problem: bullying. Ty Smalley, age 11, was a victim of bullying who had finally had enough and decided to fight back, which led to his being suspended from school. His parents found their son dead that same day. Mark Brennaman, a UCO professor and advocate for victims of bullying, is not sitting on the sidelines of this issue. “I am trying to raise awareness for the victims of bullying, because whatever was done last year was not good enough,” Brennaman said, “I want to put bullying in the history books.” Brennaman said in the case of Smal-
of bullying. While the law is well thought out, it can only work if the bully victim or his peers seeks help, a problem that continues to halt efforts in preventing bullying. “Every school that has had a bullycide -suicide caused by bullying- has had policies set in place to prevent such tragedies but no programs,” Brennaman said. “These policies have no teeth if the school does not discuss the programs with the student body.”
Mark Brennaman is trying to raise awareness for victims of bullying. Brennaman believes that to reverse the trend of bullying, children and adults alike need to be taught media literacy.
ley, it is not uncommon for the victim to be reprimanded for fighting back because the bully gets to pick when and where the bullying will take place. The problem is that most bullying does not happen in the classroom, where it could be seen more easily. “It’s like in football where the sec-
ond retaliatory act is the one that gets punished; it’s a problem with schools not wanting to deal with bullies,” Brennaman said. In accordance with Oklahoma’s School Bully Prevention Act, the Department of Education is required by law to investigate any reported acts
Brennaman to Appear on CNN Brennaman along with Dr. Kole Kleeman, UCO professor of media studies, are set to appear on CNN’s morning news broadcast on Oct. 4th to bring awareness to an issue Brennaman describes as a pandemic. Besides getting a time slot on national TV, Brennaman makes stops at schools across Oklahoma to give a presentation on bullying. His presentations are nothing short of passionate and intertwine real stories with statistical data to bring light to a difficult topic.
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